Rosy silk and cloud-like curtains spread at will;
Through the alley, the toad-drum sounds—heard but not clearly.
A slight chill on the pillow, rain outside the window;
Spring's colors before my eyes, the beloved in my dreams.
For whom do the brimming candle-tears weep?
The speckled sorrows of flowers scold on my behalf.
It is just the young maid, spoiled and sweetly lazy—
Wrapped in quilts, she cannot stop her giggles and chatter.
English titles, text, and notes are AI-assisted for reading only; for scholarship cite the Chinese and authoritative editions.
Annotation
The spring night entry in Baoyu's set of four seasonal poems. 'A slight chill on the pillow, rain outside the window; spring's colors, the beloved in dreams' is a fine couplet depicting the tender spring night at Happy Red Court.
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